`heaven And Earth' 
Is Vintage Stone

Above, Rick Derringer Heads Up A Multi-talented Roster Of Musical Guests 
Including, Right, Dead Letters.

By JOHN ERZAR; Times Leader Sports Writer
 Friday, January 07, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 5B QUICK WORDS: POLAKOSKI SCORES 26 AS
COUGLIN DOWNS TUNKHANNOCK 





WILKES-BARRE -- Maybe they weren't quite the 32 minutes the Coughlin Lady
Crusaders were looking for Thursday night, but they certainly weren't too bad. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coughlin used 26 points from Joanne Polakoski and a quick transition game
to defeat Tunkhannock, 61-26, in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division I girls
basketball game. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "When we're playing good, we look good," said Coughlin Coach Walt Deibert,
whose team improved to 2-0 in the division. "We just have to get a game with
32 minutes of solid playing. We're not doing that right now. We're playing
about a half of game the way we want to." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 With division favorite Bishop Hoban coming to Coughlin on Monday, the Lady
Crusaders will need to do so. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coughlin showed signs of being able to in the opening quarter, taking a
15-6 lead. Polakoski, coming off a 31-point effort against Nanticoke on
Monday, powered inside for 11 in the opening quarter, including two on an
underhand shot while facing away from the basket. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tunkhannock (0-1) helped, though. The Lady Tigers played Coughlin fairly
evenly except when it came to shooting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We executed the offense, but we just got to make the shots," said
Tunkhannock Coach Norm Sisle, whose team missed several inside shots in the
opening quarter. "That will come with time." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Polakoski didn't score in the second quarter, but freshman Tarah Fischi
scored four points as Coughlin took a 25-14 lead into halftime. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're trying to get more people involved in our offense," Deibert said.
"This game kind of gave us the opportunity to do that." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cindy Zbierski was one those people in the third quarter. The senior center
scored eight of her 10 points, and Polakoski added seven. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We played well for three quarter and went by our game plan," Sisle said.
"We held them to 25 in the first half, but of course they held us to 14. Right
near the end of the third quarter was when we fell apart." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At 3:53 of the third, Polakoski grabbed an offensive rebound and scored
with all five Tunkhannock players near her, triggering a 12-3 run. That gave
the Lady Crusaders a 43-21 lead heading into the fourth. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They would have needed somebody really defensive to step in there and stop
her," Deibert said of Polakoski, a first-team all-star last season as a
freshman. "Once she gets the ball, she's tough." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coughlin then opened the final period with a 12-0 run while limiting
Tunkhannock to five points total. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Stephanie Mociun led Tunkhannock with eight points. Regina Purdy added
five. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tunkhannock hosts Athens on Saturday night in a non-league game. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TUNKHANNOCK (26) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pikerowski 0 3-6 3, W.Sisle 1 2--2 4, Purdy 2 1-2 5, Mociun 2 4-6 8, Brown
1 0-0 2, Williams 1 0-0 2, E.Sisle 0 0-0 0, Place 0 0-0 0, Casey 0 0-0 0,
Mills 0 0-2 0, Gerrity 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 10-18 26. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 COUGHLIN (61) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kelly 0 0-0 0, Smith 3 0-0 6, Michael 1 0-0 2, Zbierski 5 0-2 10, Polakoski
12 2-5 26, Pekarski 2 0-0 4, Laswicki 0 0-0 0, Franks 0 1-2 1, Fischi 3 2-2 8,
Clause 2 0-0 4, O'Malia 0 0-0 0, Nice 0 0-1 0, McGrady 0 0-1 0. Totals 28 5-12
61. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tunkhannock 6 8 7 5 --26 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coughlin 15 10 18 18 --61 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Three-point goals: None.

Polakoski Scores 26 As Coughlin Downs Tunkhannock